The Hat Identity
by DemonKittyAngel
Summary: In which Luffy accosts a stranger over a hat, the Strawhats are confused, and Sabo is annoyed at this kid accusing him of stealing his own belongings. "That' Sabo's hat. Give it back." "Yes, it's my hat. How do you know my name?" Featuring: Luffy the Rubber Octopus! Sabo the (Not) Zombie! Mass Confusion! and special guest star: FEELS! ASL-is-life/I-need-these-bros-reunited


_FINALLY!_

_I have had this half finished for **more than a year**. And I am so proud of it. Had so much fun with it. I just couldn't find a good ending! And now it's finished! FINISHED I TELL YOU!_

_I own nothing. This takes place before Water 7 so there's no Franky or Brook._

* * *

Luffy is wandering the market with Nami, Zoro and Chopper when he sees it.

It's a dull black, faded from being dropped, stepped on, and long days in the sun. The brim is ever so slightly uneven having been bent this way and that with an untraditional upturn on the sides. The traditional ribbon has been replaced with goggles: oblong hexagons set into a bulky blue frame that Luffy knows are uncomfortable to wear but hides the bleach stain on the front perfectly. The band has small nicks the whole way around and by the right lens the band is haphazardly sown together with black thread to affix it to the broken adjuster.

Luffy would know that hat anywhere.

He ignores Nami when she asks where he's going – his nakama will catch up with him. This is more important. Nothing is more important than retrieving that hat and laying it properly to rest.

He sets himself squarely in front of the tall stranger planting his hands on his hips. The man is wearing a green silk vest over a classy cream blouse with simple black pants tucked into durable boots. He has brown leather gloves on his hands and almost runs Luffy over looking around the market.

"Give me that hat."

The stranger looks down at him, taking a half step back in order to not crane his neck awkwardly. "Sorry, I didn't see you there." He raises a hand and tips the very hat in question.

Luffy frowns. This guy wasn't listening. "I said gimme that hat."

"Excuse me?" The man gives him a weird look, like he's affronted that he has to give back stolen property. "I'm sorry, but this is my hat. You appear to have a perfectly good one on your back and if you need a new one, they're quite affordable."

"No, it's not." This guy is really starting to annoy Luffy. He doesn't care where this guy found it or how long he's had it. "That's Sabo's hat. Give it back."

The man's eyebrows furrow and Luffy notices the burn around his left eye. "Yes, it's my hat. How do you know my name?" He starts explaining like Luffy is stupid while giving him a considering look.

But Luffy isn't listening. "Gimme back Sabo's hat!" He reaches for the hat and when his hand is batted away he starts climbing the guy to make it easier. When the guy protests and starts trying to push him away, Luffy just circles his legs around the guy's waist a couple times so he can't be shoved off. "Gimme that hat!"

"Luffy! What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Nami yells.

Luffy ignores her, focused on the task at hand. This stupid guy keeps batting his hands away even if he reaches from behind!

Sabo, sick of this random kid assaulting him over his hat, grabs a rubber wrist and twists the stretchy arm around his own wrist a couple times to keep it stationary. "It's my hat, you can't have it! What makes you think it's not mine?"

"Because it's Sabo's hat!" The kid tries to pull his arm back but only stretches it further.

"I am Sabo!" He exclaims. Jeez, what is wrong with this kid? And where is Koala? She'd be able to pry this rubber octopus off of him.

"No you're not, Sabo's dead! Now gimme back his hat!" The boy abandons the captured arm and tries to reach around with the other.

Sabo feels his heart skip. Dead? He's not dead. The only people who would think he was dead were…

"D- do you know me?" Wide eyed, he finally catches the boy's gaze, apparently surprised enough by his question to take his attention away from the contested hat for a moment.

"What kind of question is that? You're the stranger who took Sabo's hat." He says it like it's the simplest thing in the world and Sabo is stupid for not figuring that out.

'What kind of answer is that?' he thinks before clarifying. "No! That's not what I meant! My name is Sabo but I lost my memories a long time ago! Do you know me?!" It comes out desperate but Sabo can't help it. This strange, random kid keeps trying to fight him for his hat because 'Sabo' is dead. This- this could be it. This could be his past, right in front of him.

Luffy stops with his fingers on the back brim and looks at the guy. He squints, moving his face closer and closer, overlaying the image of the handsome stranger with wavy gold hair with close-cut curls and a gap-toothed smile. He moves his neck around unnaturally taking in every detail he can, trying to find a similarity but it's hard! Ace looked really different when he grew up and he doesn't know what Sabo looks like grown up! But he wants to find it and finally, he settles on bright blue eyes, like the sky on a cloudless day. He remembers those eyes. On cloudy days when Luffy would get sad, Sabo would tell him to look into those eyes and remember that the sky would look like that again.

The three Strawhats stare on uncomfortably as their captain accosts a total stranger over a hat before the two commence a stare off. Who the hell is Sabo?

When Luffy's eyes begin to water, the Strawhats are taken aback and start to worry that this encounter is less benign and confusing than it seemed. They'd seen Luffy angry, they'd seen him bleed and almost die, but _never_ had they seen him cry. It just wasn't natural. This guy made their captain cry and he'd pay for it.

Just as the Strawhats settle into righteous indignation and prepare to defend their captain, Luffy bursts into full on sobs and clings even tighter to the stranger wrapping his uncaptured arm around several times and locking his chin over a broad shoulder. "Shabo! You're weally 'ere!" He cries without restraint, babbling half-formed facts unintelligibly. "You 'ere b'own ub and there wa' fire and Boojam twied to kiw ous and Ace wa' weally meen bu' I know 'e wa' sad and we mist you fow a wong time an' Dadan towd us to stob talkig to air an' Maki'o wa' sa' an' Gwamps stare' a' your gwave fo' a weally wong time an' I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!"

The tirade is slurred and nonsensical but Luffy seems happy(?) to see the guy so the Strawhats back down. They're not comfortable seeing their captain in distress _at all_ but there's not much they can do.

Sabo can feel panic licking at the edge of his mind. This kid shouldn't be crying because of _him_; he should be the one who stops the kid from crying. "Shh. Shh…. Hey, don't cry. I'm alive right? That means everything is ok. Shh… Don't cry Luffy…" He comforts as best he can with his arms pinned and wishes he could reach up and ruffle soft, spiky hair. Sabo doesn't know why, but he should make sure this boy never cries or at least make him feel better when he does.

"Shihihi." The kid pulls back his neck (and Sabo should be a lot more freaked out by that than he is) to give a small smile with tears in his eyes. "Sabo said my name."

He had, hadn't he? Luffy. "So I did." He beams at Luffy. This spontaneous remembrance of a name only proves that he knows this boy; that this boy knows him.

A man with green hair and three katana breaks into their happy reunion. Sabo could destroy him, easy. "Hey Luffy, now that this happy reunion has slowed down, who is this guy?"

Luffy gives the swordsman and the two next to him a huge grin. Ah, well, if they're Luffy's friends, it would be best not to attack. "Shihihi! Guys! This is my big brother Sabo!

The Strawhats' exclamation of "Brother!?" voices Sabo's inner thought perfectly.

A small reindeer who Sabo presumes is a mink steps forward. "But, I thought Ace was your brother?" Ace. Nothing feels wrong in that statement so Sabo files away that he has two brothers.

"He is! Sabo is my other brother but he got blown up!" Luffy exclaims.

Well, that matched up perfectly.

The reindeer's expression changes to one of pure terror. "Does that mean he's a zombie!?" He trembles and starts edging toward the swordsman.

Luffy gives a small hum, turning to Sabo. "Are you a zombie? Because I don't like zombies but a Sabo zombie would be ok."

Sabo has to resist cooing at the determined pout aimed towards him and keeps his voice steady. "I am not a zombie." He's never heard of actual zombies or come across one but he never rules out anything on the Grand Line.

"He's not a zombie." Luffy restates like it's a clear fact and not something he'd just considered himself.

The reindeer relaxes at this and gives a cheerful smile. "Oh, good. Hi Luffy's brother! It's very nice to meet you!"

"It's nice to meet you too." He inclines his head politely gaining Luffy's attention.

"Hey! You still have your hat!" His grin is too wide for a normal face but anything less would look wrong. Sabo has never been more grateful that Dragon had brought his hat along with him.

Nami is fighting the urge to facepalm. 'He's only noticing this now?' but it's Luffy and she's mostly used to him by now so she addresses the stranger her captain is still clinging to. "Are you ok with all this? You just said you don't remember anything."

He looks over at her and offers a crooked smile which makes him look even more handsome. "While I'm not exactly sure what's going on, everything Luffy says adds up and the longer he's here, the more I feel like he's important to me." He looks back at Luffy, eyes filling with remorse. "I'm sorry I forgot."

Luffy beams. "That's ok! I'll remind you!"

Nami takes in the crowd gossiping around them. "Hey guys, do you want to take this somewhere more private?"

Sabo loves watching his little brother light up. "Yeah! Sabo! You have to come see our ship!" Rubber limbs retract from his torso and Sabo has to fight the urge to pout. It shouldn't be so _disappointing_ for this kid to let go. Sabo wasn't an insecure person but something about letting Luffy go when they've just found each other fills him with the promise of a gouged out heart.

Luffy takes his hand and his entire being fills with warmth. Of course Luffy wouldn't let him go and this time, he wouldn't let go either.

They walk back, Luffy babbling the whole time about what an awesome pirate he is and how his crew is the best ever.

Usopp has been patching up a rail on the Going Merry and happily greets his returning crewmates. "Welcome back. Huh? Who's this?" It wouldn't be the first time a stranger has suddenly been brought into their crew and there's normally a crazy adventure to go along with it.

"This is my big brother Sabo! He doesn't remember right now so I'm going to remind him!" His captain beams up at him and Usopp starts to panic.

From the silk vest to the spotless trousers, everything about this man screams money and the golden blonde hair is a trait he's only ever seen on Kaya and those of the upper class. 'Oh dear Lord Luffy has just kidnapped a gentleman off of the street with his crazy delusion.' They're dead. They're so dead. If a man like that makes a single accusation against them the marines will be on their tail immediately. "Ah, is that so… ? Ha.. ahaha…"

They're so dead.

The gentleman perks up. "Excuse me for one second, I need to make a call."

This is it! He sees the pirate flag and neutral port or not, he's going to call the marines and have them arrested!

A den den mushi is pulled out of the guy's (high quality, lightly used) saddle bag. *Barup* This is it. *Barup* They're all gonna die. *Baru-* _"Sabo, where the hell are you!?"_ An angry female voice answers. _"I've asked around and I know you were here but then you walked off!"_

"Ahahaha! Don't worry about it Koala. My little brother found me!" Wait, is this guy playing into Luffy's delusion!? That's even worse!

A long moment passes before the voice comes back defensive and skeptical_. "…Little Brother?"_

"Mm-hm. From before the accident." Accident? What accident? Wait, was Luffy legitimately 'brothers' with this man?!

"…_Sabo, think about this."_ The woman is dead serious. _"What are the chances that you would randomly run into your 'little brother' on the Grand Line when you're from the East Blue? You need to get out of there. It's probably a trick."_

'Sabo' glowers at the den den. "Luffy couldn't lie if his life depended on it. In any case, we're at the East Dock. Look for a caravel with a goat figurehead and the Strawhat pirate flag."

"_Wait, are you saying you're with pirates!? It could b-"_ He unceremoniously hangs up and gives the assembled Strawhats a benevolent smile.

"All done." A cold shiver runs down their spines. Something was not right about this guy and it was high time that they got their idiotic, smiling captain away from him.

Robin emerges from the galley and zeroes in on the ex-compatriot she hadn't thought she'd see again. "Hello Sabo. I didn't expect to see the illustrious Blue Gentleman in these parts. May I ask what you want with my captain?" She has fingertips sprouted behind him, fully ready to yank him off his feet and separate him from her captain. She's not sure she'd be able to kill him but for her crew, she'd give her all.

"Robin. Long time no see. I believe it was three years ago in Cardell." He avoids her question which only raises her suspicions. Sabo is a revolutionary; he should have no reason to take advantage of the trusting nature of a young rookie pirate.

"Robin, you know Sabo?!" Her captain looks up at her in amazement and she mentally adds a point to 'times she impressed Luffy'. It was childish, but the warmth of his appreciation was addicting.

"Indeed." She answers calmly.

To her surprise, Luffy's expression changes from awe to a pinched contemplation and finally a pout. "Robin! Why didn't you tell me my brother was alive?"

Robin keeps the surprise off her face, but only just. "I was unaware that the two of you knew each other." Or that Sabo had any family at all.

"Oh. That's ok then." He grins at her once more and she smiles back, glad to have added to her captain's happiness.

Nami steps in with the million beli question. "How do you know him, Robin?"

A perfect opening to let her nakama know exactly how dangerous the man in front of them is. "A few years ago, I spent some time working with the Revolutionaries. I went on two missions with Sabo. During the last one, he goaded an army into fighting him and earned himself the moniker 'The Bloody Gentleman' in certain circles."

She can see the fear in Usopp's dropped jaw and wants to chuckle; he always has the best reactions. The rest of her crew regard Sabo with renewed wariness but her captain just looks even more excited.

"Fun times." Sabo sounds wistful. "I'm not allowed to fight whole armies anymore; it calls too much attention."

"Shihihi. My brother is the best!" Luffy grins at their shocked faces while the Strawhats despair at Luffy having yet another insanely powerful and irresponsible relative. It's not like they expect his family to be normal, it's Luffy after all, but there's only so much they can take.

Usopp shakes it off first as another thought came to him. "But what about Ace?"

"Ace is also the best!" Luffy declares. "But Sabo is the nice brother."

Sabo can feel his ego inflating at the same time that he frowns in confusion. "Ace? As in Portgas D. Ace, Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates?" Something about this feels strange but Sabo can't pin down what.

"Yup!" Luffy exclaims.

"… Isn't his wanted poster smiling?" Sabo puzzles over.

"Ace smiles a lot now!"Luffy beams up at him before blinking wide eyed in realization. "Hey! You remembered!"

Sabo thinks about it. Why would he find it surprising that a pirate he's never met smiles a lot unless he had known him at some point? A small smile pulls at Sabo's own lips. "I suppose I did." He looks down at his brother, giving the rubber hand in his a firm squeeze. "How about you tell me the story of how we met? I bet I'll remember even more."

"Yosh! I'll tell the best story ever!" Somehow, Sabo knows it will be an utter mess but he couldn't be happier as Luffy leads him to a portside railing.

"What do you mean 'how you met'; the two of you are brothers aren't you?" The carrot top young woman asks another pertinent question. She'd make a good spy. Or interrogator. Or just a good resource over all.

Sabo gestures with his free hand at their general physical appearance: the different coloring, heights, and features. "I think it's perfectly obvious that Luffy and I are brothers by choice, not by blood." His smile turns cold. "I'm also well aware of who my parents were and how much I despise them."

"Yeah. Sabo's dad is a jerk." Luffy takes on a dark tone that the Strawhats recognize from his fights with the likes of Arlong – people who have truly pissed him off. Sabo agrees with his brother's assessment even if the wording is milder than he'd expect from the tone. A sunny smile suddenly takes over that Sabo can't help but return. "But Sabo is free now!"

"Yes, I am." He squeezes his brother's hand and knows that for his brother's sake, he'll fight harder than ever to tear down the world government.

Luffy guides them over to a rail, puts Sabo against it and then plops down in his lap. Sabo's arms instinctually circle his waist. "Luffy, we're not kids anymore. You shouldn't sit in my lap." Although he says that, he tightens his arms and gives no indication that he wants Luffy to move anywhere.

"But I missed Sabo." His head is tilted unnaturally backwards but instead of feeling disgust, Sabo is completely at ease. He supposes that Luffy must have had his devil fruit even when they were children for the both of them to be this comfortable with the unnatural movements.

Robin calls Sanji out of the kitchen and the Strawhats gather around ignoring their captain's childish antics. While the reunion with Ace had been between brothers who competed with each other, this reunion had a clear caretaker dimension.

The curious yet peaceful atmosphere was promptly shattered as Luffy began his story. "I followed Ace to his pirate fund so he and Sabo decided to kill me-"

The resounding "WHAT!?" from his crew drowned out whatever came next.

"Luffy! Did you just say that Ace and this guy tried to kill you?!" Nami shrieks. He had to have more common sense than this.

Almost simultaneously Usopp blurts out. "B- but your brother adores you!? What do you mean 'decided to kill you'!?"

"Ace tried to kill me lots of times." Luffy shrugs like he hasn't just turned their world sideways. "So the two of them tied me to a tree and I was super scared 'cause they were really angry but then this stupid looking guy came looking for their treasure. Ace and Sabo disappeared and then stupid Porchemy carried me off to one of Bluejam's hideouts and beat me up a long time. He kept asking where their treasure was but I refused to tell him because then Ace wouldn't be my friend!"

He cranes his neck to beam up at Sabo who offers a small smile back even as a dread creeps into his chest. Luffy is talking about torture. Luffy had withstood hours of torture for a couple of kids who just tried to kill him.

"But, but you got rescued, right!? They came back for you?!" The reindeer cries out in distress.

"Shihihi! Yup!" Luffy shifts to a frown and Sabo feels like he's been gutted. "They hit me for a really long time and I was really scared I was going to die. But then Ace and Sabo came!"

Sabo can feel his heart constricting with every word. Guilt attempts to strangle him and he knows this is what happened. He had abandoned this little kid to be tortured in favor of treasure. He tightens his arms around the thin frame little by little. At the end, when Luffy smiles up at him like he's the most amazing person in the world, he can't help but smile back and silently promise to never let that happen again.

"Sabo and Ace were really cool! They beat up Porchemy – a real pirate! – and rescued me. Ace called me a crybaby. I wasn't being a crybaby! I had been hit for a really long time!"

"Seven hours." It's out before Sabo realizes and his stomach twists at the surety of how many hours he'd left this kid to be tortured. Maybe it was better not to remember… He looks down at Luffy, safe in his arms and full of love and kindness. No, it was definitely better to remember.

"That's…" Nami feels sick. She knows her captain, knows he can bounce back from anything. She's seen him get beat half to death only to get back up and throw another punch. She knows you cry easier as a kid – she sure as hell had. But this…

The Strawhats reevaluate their view of Ace for the second time and lament their Captain's stubbornness. They already know that Luffy will go to drastic lengths for those he considers Nakama even before they accept him as Captain but there's something both horrifying and heartwarming in a child withstanding torture so that someone _might_ be his friend. No wonder Ace and this new guy adored him – they certainly hadn't earned that loyalty before hand.

Not that any of them had really earned his loyalty themselves.

Usopp breaks the tension with a tenuous question. "And… you're sure you're ok with this? I mean, you said you don't remember…"

Sabo looks up from where he'd been absorbed giving Luffy Eskimo kisses.

"Hm? Well of course I am. While I'm not exactly sure of the details, the longer Luffy is here the more I know that he's precious to me and that the world wouldn't be right without him." He slowly pets the soft spikes in front of him. "If I had to put it into words, it's like he saved me, a long time ago."

Luffy cranes his neck and gives him a weird look. "But I didn't save you, you saved me."

Sabo gives a warm smile and resists (with a great deal of effort) smothering him. "Maybe not in a literal sense, but more of a personal sense. Like you made life better." He looks up at his brother's crew. "It's like my life wouldn't be the same without Luffy; like he makes things brighter just by being here."

He beams down at the embodiment of sunshine in his lap and tightens his arms. He can't remember his past – at least, not at this moment – but everything Luffy says is familiar and his heart sings that he had never known true happiness before meeting this child.

~Omake~

Three hours later, an irate brunette storms up the dock with murder in her eyes. "Sabo…"

Looking over his shoulder, the blond smiles graciously. "Koala! So nice of you to join us!"

Koala tightens her fist and grits her teeth. "Yes. Amazing how long it takes to find a boat at the _South_ Dock when you say _East_."

"Did I say that?" Sabo affects a sincere apologetic surprise that every last one of them knows is bullshit. "I'm terribly sorry. I must have been so caught up in the excitement I wasn't paying attention."

"Because you would never give someone wrong directions on purpose." Koala's smile could cut diamonds.

Sabo's answering grin is blinding. "Of course."

"Shihihi. Sabo, your friend is funny." A slender boy wearing a well cared for straw hat snickers.

"That she is." And Koala wants to be mad, she _really_ wants to be mad, but there's a soft contentness in how Sabo looks down at the boy beside him that she's never seen from her friend before. His smile is gentle and more sincere than she can ever remember (and it's damn hard to tell his fake smiles from his real ones already) and his eyes…

There's an inner peace there, in the adoring gaze he gives the boy, that Koala never would have associated with her friend.

Maybe… maybe it was as crazy as it sounded. Maybe an old friend (Brother? Really?) had become a pirate and ran into him on the Grand Line years later. Crazier things have happened and rarely ones this good.

* * *

_Eskimo kisses = nuzzling noses and it's adorable_

_Wow, so, I love this fic. I love writing Usopp (he panics so much!) and Sabo (well, if you read anything else I write it's obvious how much I love Sabo.)_

_This fic was my major breakthrough in writing Luffy though. He's so hard to get a handle on! Everything is straight forward with him and he's so literal._

_Well, let me know what you all think! From Luffy the Rubber Octopus to Sabo the Troll. XD_

* * *

_A word from the Author:_

_Ok, so I know I can be labeled a 'review whore' because I'm constantly asking for people to give me feedback (and really fandoms? Can we leave behind that language?) but, I really just want to know. Look, the best part of fanfiction as a writer is that I'm posting in real time. There's a real conversation to be had here. I get to know what works and what doesn't, what people like or don't. This is a one shot so perhaps there's not much to be said but every word counts._

_Think of it like online dating. You've worked really hard on your profile. You've read it over a dozen times and you think you finally have something people will like. You put yourself out there and... -! Radio Silence. No one is saying anything. You don't know what's going through their heads. What? Was it boring? Was it badly worded? Was it just ok?_

_I really just want to know._


End file.
